OVERVIEW:
Vehicle autonomy is emerging as an essential component of future mobility systems. As a result of increases in populations, vehicles and traffic demands, city planners and automotive system designers expect the car of the future will require some method of autonomous control to keep city traffic flowing.

THE HIDDEN CHALLENGE:
How can a vehicle designed to operate autonomously create an emotional connection with its user?

If the vehicle will be operated autonomously (commuting, running errands, staying within the urban environment) more than half the time, how can it transform to cater to the users’ needs the rest of the time?

Generation Y consumers continue to express diminished interest, forcing a reconsideration of what consumers want to do in and with their cars. How can an autonomous vehicle cater to these experiences and how does it change to be able to deliver both active (driven) and autonomous (undriven) capability?

THE 2014 MICHELIN CHALLENGE DESIGN THEME:
Autonomous technology can allow greater freedom in vehicle design. Designers will have new areas for exploring features and aesthetics that express an owner’s particular passions and functional needs while providing newfound flexibility in time management when in an autonomous mode.

This year’s Challenge takes dual forms:

Design your future vehicle with unique features and capabilities to engage you and your interests while in the autonomous mode required by increasingly dense urban environments.

Demonstrate how your creative design transforms your driven vehicle into an extension of your lifestyle and allows you to experience driving pleasure and life’s adventures in new or more meaningful ways.

Michelin Challenge Design will recognize exciting and passionate designs that employ innovative vehicle architecture and interactive technologies, without compromising functionality, safety or comfort. The vehicle’s capabilities must include dimensional specifications and visual detail of the tire/wheel assembly.

THE DELIVERABLES:

2D renderings/drawings/sketches illustrating vehicle architecture from a minimum of three perspectives—at least one with context of people and intended driving environment.

2D renderings/drawings/sketches illustrating the tire and wheel assembly, including dimensions and specifications.

Description of materials or manufacturing process enabling the innovation and the means by which the transformation is accomplished from one dual mode to the other.

A brief (200 word) essay on the envisioned targeted usage and benefits, the unique capabilities the vehicle can employ when in an autonomous mode as well as expected trends for the size of wheels and tires and the electronics that will be present in the tire of the future to enable a unique driving experience.